Are gamers smarter?

[WayneLigon]

When I first started playing (1978) I'd have said the answer would be a definate 'yes' given the smaller sample size of the local gamer population: almost exclusively college students, most of which majored in computer science, mathematics, other hard science fields. In other words, significantly smarter than the average joe.

Today, I'd think it somewhat less so on average but still higher than the norm.

 

[pfisteria]

I personally don't believe the average gamer is any more intelligent or creative than the average person (I just seem to come across more gamers who think they are more intelligent and creative than the average person). If I were to compare the average gamer to people I know or work with (including those that my wife and step-daughter know and work with), the average gamer would be far less intelligent and creative than the average person I know or work with. This comparison wouldn't be fair though, because of where my wife, step-daughter, and myself work (all in unrelated fields, well mostly unrelated). *shrug*

 

[Krieg]

Serious, no kidding at all here, having lived outside of Los Angeles, I can say with great confidence that people in southern california drive MUCH BETTER than most of the rest of the US (and the planet).

I've had a pretty good sample to back that up, too. Before I travelled a lot, I too thought people in socal drove poorly. I was wrong. Sooo wrong. We are AMAZING drivers compared to most of the rest of what is out there. And that, my friend, is seriously depressing...

"Great Confidence" is wonderful and all but it isn't exactly statistically signifigant.

California drivers are about average (for the nation) when it comes to auto accidents per capita and similar quantifiers.

The "worst" drivers stastically are in Mississippi, Arkansas & Alabama. The "best" are in Rhode Island, New Jersey & Massachussettes.

Having lived in SoCal for several years and watching the highways turn into demolition-derbies during even the most miniscure amount of rain didn't do much to inspire confidence. I can only imagine the death toll if SoCal was ever hit by a freak snow storm.

 

[Zander]

If I were to compare the average gamer to people I know or work with (including those that my wife and step-daughter know and work with), the average gamer would be far less intelligent and creative than the average person I know or work with. This comparison wouldn't be fair though, because of where my wife, step-daughter, and myself work (all in unrelated fields, well mostly unrelated). *shrug*

You might be what I call "intellectually spoilt". That phrase sounds like an insult but it isn't. It just means that the people you know are even further above average than you realise. As a result, your basis of comparison is distorted. So the gamers that you've met may be above average, only not as high as you and people you know outside of gaming, such as your wife and stepdaughter.

How do you know if you're "intellectually spoilt"? Try this: get your hands on an IQ test endorsed by psychologists or an organisation such as Mensa (the high IQ society). You can buy these in bookstores and probably online at places like Amazon. Look at the answers to the tests and figure out which questions an average person (i.e. someone scoring 100) would probably get wrong. Brace yourself when you do this because it'll probably shock the nine hells out of you!

Now I know that IQ tests, in various ways, are not perfect measures of intelligence. But they're not as far off the mark as many people believe. Unfortunately, I don't have any IQ test to hand. Otherwise I would post a few questions that average IQ individuals usually get wrong. I think that most EN Worlders would be very surprised indeed.

 

[Creamsteak]

My group includes two college grads and four high-school only grads.

I'd think that's still above the average as a whole. I can't imagine one third of my graduating class with even a BA.

Also, as another sort of sub-topic: Are enworlders above average intelligence? We proved that we are well above average at being generous with one another... but whatabout just our INT stat?

 

[Ycore Rixle]

Only anecdotal evidence, not scientific or statistrically significant, but for what it's worth...

I teach middle school and high school, and I run a computer games room in a summer camp. The kids who are interested in pen-and-paper gaming are, in my experience, definitely above average in scholastic performance. I do not see this tendency in kids who are interested in just computer games. Also, without a doubt both groups of gamers are more imaginative and more interested in learning than average.

Quite interestingly, I have taught at an all-girls school for the past two years, and this holds true even more so for the girls. Without exception, every single girl gamer at this school whom I have met in the last two years has been an above-average student and very keen on learning. Of course, I have only met six such girls (I'm not counting the girls who like to play Sims - they are legion - but I have never considered the Sims to be a "gamer's game", fine effort thought it is).

 

[Umbran]

Now I know that IQ tests, in various ways, are not perfect measures of intelligence. But they're not as far off the mark as many people believe.

Um, Zander, remember how at the beginningof this thread you asked us to not reduce to an argument of what intelligence is? The only reason you'd need to do that is that there is no universally accepted definition.

I am weak, and cannot resist asking this one mostly rhetorical question - How in the world can IQ tests measure a thing that isn't well defined?

 

[Lola]

You know what's really fun to do?

Pretend that the original question was "are gamers smarter than bread-mold?"

Go back and reread. giggle.

 

[Zander]

Um, Zander, remember how at the beginningof this thread you asked us to not reduce to an argument of what intelligence is? The only reason you'd need to do that is that there is no universally accepted definition.

Well, perhaps there is no universally accepted definition of intelligence, but there are generally agreed definitions used by psychologists in this field of study. The trouble is that you have to have done a lot of ground work to understand what they're talking about (they boil down to a concept called "g" which is the statistical commonality between various types of IQ sub-tests). I was very much hoping not to have to get into a debate about that which is why I resisted giving a definition at the beginning and used the Oxford English Dictionary's definition when pressed.

 

[Zander]

Pretend that the original question was "are gamers smarter than bread-mold?"

I started this thread, so I could change it...